The environmental challenge for technology · communication, Heikki Kotilainen, Head of the EUREKA Secretariat, welcomes the Research Area ... Eureka 49 ENGLISH/FINAL 6/11/00 3:54

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European Innovation Area, p 2Detecting forgeries, p 6

The environmental challenge for technologyEUREKA leads the way in cleaning up electronics

Eureka 49 ENGLISH/FINAL 6/11/00 3:54 pm Page 9

EUREKA NEWS • October 20002

network and the EU’s network of Innovation RelayCentres, in order to help small companies work oncollaborative projects;

● Improving the links between industry anduniversities, so as to identify innovative potentialin European universities and provide support tokeep it in Europe;

● Enhancing local initiatives and links, andmotivating policy-makers at local level, since it isat local level that creativity and initiative can playthe key role in driving innovation.

In the discussions on the ERA throughout this year,EUREKA has consistently supported the proposals,seeing itself as a gateway to the ERA for industry,small and large. With these new proposalsemphasising innovation, EUREKA hopes toconsolidate this position, and Kotilainen is lookingforward to a fruitful dialogue with the Commission. ■

EUREKA wants to see a European Innovation Area inpartnership with the European Research Area (ERA)proposed by the European Commission in January thisyear. With the Commission’s proposals receiving wide-ranging support across Europe, EUREKA suggestsestablishing a complementary initiative to ensurethat the results of European research derive maximumbenefit for the European economy.

In a formal response to the Commission’scommunication, Heikki Kotilainen, Head of theEUREKA Secretariat, welcomes the Research Areaproposals and underlines how EUREKA’s own proposalwould complement the ERA. According to Kotilainen,EUREKA has a unique network across Europe and anunderstanding of innovation through its decentralisedapproach and direct contacts with industry.

Among the ideas put forward for a EuropeanInnovation Area are:● Developing closer links between the EUREKA

Complementing the Research Area with innovation

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New GermanwebsiteThe German EUREKAOffice has recentlyrelaunched its website,with the contentreorganised and newservices, such asdownloadabledocuments, availablefor users. In addition,the whole site is nowalso available inEnglish. See: http://www.dlr.de/EUREKA/

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Tourism is one of the most important economicactivities in the world, employing some 115 millionpeople worldwide, and growing every year. Europe iscurrently the most visited region, accounting fornearly two-thirds of all tourist arrivals (currentlyalmost 400 million per year). While the total numberof tourist visits in Europe is expected to continue togrow strongly in coming years, Europe’s share of theworldwide tourist market is falling. As the Europeanmarket becomes less competitive on prices, it is vitalthat it positions itself as a high quality destination –for visitors from within and outside Europe.

Integrating new technologies into all areas of theEuropean tourism industry will both help to developand maintain consistently high quality, and helpreduce costs. Furthermore, it can also assist inensuring that the development of tourism isenvironmentally sustainable.

EUROTOURISM is a strategic action within EUREKAwhich aims to encourage the take-up of existingtechnologies within the tourism industry, and fosterthe development of new technologies which canbenefit tourism specifically. EUROTOURISM, inpartnership with the Spanish Chair of EUREKA, isorganising a major brokerage event in Santander,Spain, from 23 to 25 November. This will bringtogether tourism and leisure organisations andtechnology providers, who will be able to discuss newand existing technologies in the field and considerpossible business opportunities. The event will alsosee the existing virtual discussion groups (accessibleon the Web – http://www.eurotourism.org/) meetingin thematic workshops to discuss specific themes.These cover the themes of sustainability; improvingworking processes; new products and services;Information Society applications; cultural heritage;and new business models and concepts.For further information, see right-hand column. ■

EUROTOURISM – newtechnologies for tourism

The Guggenheim inBilbao, one of the latestgeneration touristattractions


EUREKA NEWS • October 2000 3

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Telecom 2000 – exhibition andbrokerage event● 6-9 November 2000, Tel Aviv,Israel● Udo MannesIsraeli EUREKA OfficeTel. +972 3 511 81 11Fax +972 3 517 76 [email protected]://www.matimop.org.il/telecom2000/

IST 2000 – EU InformationSociety Technologiesconference● 6-8 November 2000, NiceAcropolis, France● Christine SimeoneEUREKA SecretariatTel. +32 2 777 09 70Fax +32 2 770 74 [email protected]://istevent.cec.eu.int/

Moulds and dies for the newcentury (brokerage event)● 21-22 November 2000,Marinha Grande, Portugal● Rui TochaCENTIMFETel. +351 244 545 600Fax +351 244 545 [email protected]://www.centimfe.com/be/default.htm

EUROTOURISM 2000 –brokerage event on tourism andleisure technologies● 23-25 November 2000,Santander, Spain● Emilio IglesiasSpanish EUREKA OfficeTel. +34 91 581 56 07Fax +34 91 581 55 [email protected]://www.eurotourism.org/

US-Europe partnering event onenvironmental technologies● 29-30 November 2000,Amsterdam, the Netherlands● Gaby OffermansDutch EUREKA OfficeTel. +31 70 361 05 34Fax +31 70 361 03 [email protected]://www.etm3.net/

Brokerage event on sensortechnology● 3-5 December 2000,Helsingor, Denmark● Kristian JohnsenDanish EUREKA OfficeTel. +45 35 46 63 92Fax +45 35 46 63 [email protected]://www.sensortec.dk/

Europartenariat – exhibitionand brokerage event● 3-5 December 2000, Palermo,Italy● Christine SimeoneEUREKA SecretariatTel. +32 2 777 09 70Fax +32 2 770 74 [email protected]://www.europartenariat.it/

Measuring theresults of EUREKAprojectsEuropean companies are world-leaders in the fast-developing digital communications industry, andmany European standards have been adoptedworldwide. EUREKA’s flexible structures mean that ithas supported much work in this field, with majorprojects totalling over €1,600 million in 15 yearscontributing to the development of digital televisionstandards, for example. This is one of the fieldsexamined in EUREKA’s fifth Annual Impact Report,presented at the Hannover Ministerial Conference,demonstrating the high value of EUREKA participationto industry.

Another assessment of thevalue of EUREKA is shown inthe fact that over half ofparticipants cited the“prestige of the EUREKAlabel” as a reason forparticipation. With the greatmajority of EUREKAparticipants successfullydeveloping new productsor processes as a result ofparticipating in a project, and over half achieving apositive commercial impact by the end of the project,the evaluation panel is clear that EUREKA issuccessfully helping companies in innovation. Theyalso present a number of recommendations to developthe Initiative, in particular looking at ways in whichEUREKA could develop a role in facilitating access toprivate funding.

To obtain a copy of the Annual Impact Report,please contact the EUREKA Secretariat:[email protected] ■

Partnership for abetter environmentEuropean and American companies working in theenvironmental technologies field have the chance tomeet their counterparts in Amsterdam on 29 and 30November, at a US-European partnering eventorganised by the Dutch EUREKA Office. Some 75companies from each continent are expected toattend, making it a great opportunity fororganisations working at a high level in environmentaltechnologies to discuss ideas and possible businessopportunities. The organisers have set up aninnovative Internet registration system(http://www.et3m.net/), and once registered,participants can access details of all participants on apassword-protected website. Using this site they canalso register interest in meeting with particularparticipants, setting up a schedule of meetings inadvance of the event. One key workshop during theevent is being organised by Royal Dutch/Shell who areconsidering a new initiative in sustainable hydrogen,and will be looking for other companies, and potentialpartners, active in this field. A second workshop isbeing organised by Unilever in the field of sustainableagriculture and foodchain management.For further information, see right-hand column. ■

Shell plant producinghydrogen in Malaysia

Developing EUREKA NewsRegular readers will have noticed the changes in EUREKA News this year. We haveintroduced a new style and reorganised the content. Next year we intend to completethe change from a quarterly to a bi-monthly publication, bringing you more regularnews on EUREKA activities. Inside this issue you will find a short questionnairedesigned to find out what you think of the newsletter and how you would like to see itdevelop. We would be grateful if you could take the time to complete and fax backyour questionnaire to us. As a little incentive, all the questionnaires returned will gointo a draw and one lucky reader will win a bottle of champagne.



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As the European Union prepares newlegislation that will mean a better deal forthe environment throughout the life cycle ofelectronic equipment, EUREKA is once againahead of the game – the umbrella projectCARE has been aiming to do just that eversince its launch in 1993.

EUREKA cares forthe environment

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For the average consumer, the environmental damageresulting from the manufacture and disposal of theirhousehold electronic goods is too far removed fromtheir experience to be of significant interest. TheEuropean Commission is now working on encouragingthe integration of environmental best practice intofundamental levels of design and manufacture. Andwith a new Directive on the environmentalmanagement of waste from electrical and electronicequipment (WEEE) expected to come into law in thenext year or two, CARE projects are playing a vital partin getting manufacturers up to speed.

With Nokia, Motorola, IBM, Philips, Siemens, Sonyand many other big electronics companies under theumbrella, CARE has achieved a critical mass that isexpected to carry the project on beyond its scheduledfinish date of 2004. Research institutes and smallcompanies, covering all sectors from technologydevelopment, production, dismantling and re-use towaste collection and disposal, also have a big input,and the EUREKA format gives businesses of all sizes aunique opportunity to work out solutions to mutualproblems. Furthermore, the projects involveparticipants from across Europe, ensuring that theCentral and Eastern European countries will alsobenefit from their developments.

Dr Bernd Kopacek, managing director of the AustrianSociety for Systems Engineering and Automation, leadpartner of the umbrella, considers the lines ofcommunication opened by CARE as the secret of theproject’s success. “Tens or hundreds of researchorganisations have an interest in take-back logisticsand there was a duplication of research,” he said. “Themajor achievement of CARE is networking. There is amuch clearer picture of what has to be done, what hasalready been done and who can do what in the future.”

CARE began as a single project in Germany and hassnowballed as other countries recognised theimportance of getting involved. “In 1993 there wasmuch discussion about the WEEE directive in Germany,but not so much on a European Union level,” saidKopacek. The original project had ten participants, butover the next 18 months over 100 more partnerssigned up and CARE was reformed as an umbrella in1995 to oversee the large group split into smallerprojects. With projects ranging in size from around€800,000 to over €3 million, CARE is the largestenvironmental research platform in electronics in theworld, focused on closing the loop to make it possible,and even profitable, for companies to recover end-of-life electronics equipment for recycling or re-use.

A factory to take products to piecesWhile some parts of printed circuit boards are fairlystraightforward to recycle, one CARE project aims tosave much more of the original component than dropsof molten metal. The partners in E! 1592 are about toopen a disassembly factory, where companies cancome and get the most out of end-of-life products. “If



you break electronic waste down to its materialscontent you have to produce components out ofmaterials, using a lot of energy,” said Kopacek, alsolead partner of this sub-project. “In thisdemonstration plant we can re-use components in thehighest stage, which is much better.” This might meanthat a computer chip is re-used in anything from acamcorder to a television set. Kopacek expects therepair centres of large electronics manufacturers to bethe disassembly plant’s number one customers. “If acompany prints circuit boards and the layout is wrongthey have to scrap it, but with our technology theydon’t. We extract the components which they canmount on new circuit boards,” he said. Anotherimportant market will be the electronic wastecollected from large users such as banks andgovernment. The disassembly factory will extract re-usable components and sell them to the largeproducers.

Ensuring components are worth re-usingAt the moment only ten per cent of electronics wasteis disassembled in the EU, and Kopacek hopes that theinterface of E! 1592 with other CARE projects willboost this figure. Re-use will only increase ifmanufacturers know the component is reliable, andpart of the work completed under another sub-project(E! 1689) gives that all-important guarantee. It hasestablished some basic criteria for predicting theremaining lifetime of components, and with aguarantee that the part is not going to fail for anumber of years the disassembly factory will be ableto sell components for re-use at a higher price.

“The useful lifetime of integrated circuits is around30 years, but they are usually discarded in a fractionof this time,” said Mr Peter Jacob of the main partner,the Electrical Engineering Reliability Laboratory inSwitzerland. E! 1689 found that the level of “leakage”current from low power circuits can be used to predicttheir remaining lifetime. One of the project’s mainachievements is to increase the re-use of componentsin so-called high-end electronics. Low-end goods,such as birthday cards that sing a greeting or toysthat talk, have relied on re-used components to keepcosts down, but today, re-used components are alsofound in video equipment or telephone answeringmachines.

Reversing the supply chain torecycleAs well as facilitating more re-use, the collection ofelectronics waste fromconsumers will soon be a legalimperative for producers – theWEEE Directive will require EUMember States to recover atleast four kilogrammes ofelectronic waste for every inhabitantevery year. Industry will be responsiblefor collection and environmentallysound disposal. At the moment there are separatesystems for distribution and disposal of products, andthe completed CARE sub-project E! 1279 was designedto integrate the two. Closing the circle betweenproducer and consumer in this way would haveeconomic and ecological benefits as producers exploitnew market opportunities, while recycling costs andtraffic volumes go down.

Despite a consensus among industry that suchintegration would be beneficial, Franz Ruef of themain project partner Telesis Beratungs could not findthe volunteers to get such systems up and running.“We made a feasibility study then worked out somepre-pilot systems. All participants said it would bevery nice to have this information, but when we askedwho could start a pilot project we went into the nextlong discussion,” he said, adding that managementcosts and the companies’ different interests had beenproblems. Although the project was not as successfulas hoped, through EUREKA Ruef canvassed opinionand made contacts that have helped his company tosecure funding for a new, related project.

EUREKA has helped Europe set the global pace in thefield of eco-friendly electronics, and CARE gaveinterested parties a chance to talk with the rest of theworld at the Electronics Goes Green 2000+ conference,which took place in mid-September. CARE projectswere presented at the conference in Berlin, whichcompared the state of European research to thatcompleted under ECODESIGN in Japan and ISEE in theUS. The conference was a platform for the launch ofthe truly global projects that are necessary foreffective environmental management. “Because ourtopic is a global one we have to act globally, becauseno producer will make a product just for Europe,”concluded Kopacek. “Our goal is that in a few yearstime the environment is not a special topic any more –as quality was ten years ago and now quality is part ofthe normal game. We want to achieve this in the nextfive years for the environment.” ■


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Counterfeit money has been in circulation allaround the world for almost as long as the realthing. Financial institutions face a constant battleto filter out fake notes as the technology availableto counterfeiting gangs becomes ever moresophisticated.

With the help of EUREKA funding, a partnershipbetween a Norwegian and Danish company has givenits customers – such as banks and money exchangeagencies – the opportunity to stay one step ahead byquickly and efficiently detecting forged currency.

Arctic Heating AS of Norway is a company withexperience in building machinery for handling paperwhile Bellcon I/S in Denmark has expertise in optical

components and ultraviolet light technology.Together they have built an automatic devicewhich examines the thickness, print colourand other characteristics of US dollar bills,easily the most common target for forgersworldwide.

As high quality modern photographicand printing equipment is readily available

to forgers, it was a major technological challenge for

E! 1542 AUTO QUARTZ WATCH1996-1998total cost: €4.2 millioncountries involved: NL, CH,DE

Counting out the forgers

the two partners to detect reliably all the differenttypes of fake dollars in circulation. “The developmentcosts of the project far exceeded the original budgetand without funding from EUREKA it would not havebeen possible to complete the work, or at best thefinal product would have been greatly delayed,” saidproject leader Per Kristian Pettersson of ArcticHeating.

However, the partners were able to demonstrateand launch their technology at a trade fair in March2000. Since then 50 units have been sold and afurther 100 are in production. The device can handle300 banknotes a minute, separate out forgeries andbe pre-set to deliver the required number of genuinenotes.

“Although the Super Vision Automatic wasdeveloped for detecting and handling US dollarbanknotes it can be adapted to deal with almost allcurrencies by relatively simple redesigns of thedetector systems and without changing the basicstructure of the machine,” Mr Pettersson explained.The two partners are currently working on a variantwhich will handle the new euro banknotes due toenter circulation in 2002. ■

E!1874 SUPERVISION AUTO1997-98total cost: €370,000countries involved: NO, DK

Replacing batteries for goodTime is running out for the tiny button batteriescontaining mercury oxide used to power quartzwrist watches and other small electrical devices.Concerns about the environmental effects of suchhighly toxic materials has led manufacturers ofbattery-powered products to search for cleanalternative energy sources. With the help ofEUREKA funding, a group of five companies haveput themselves at the forefront of this movement.

The typical lifespan of a conventional battery-operated quartz watch is about 14 years while thebutton batteries used to power them will usually lastno more than two years. So the owner of such awatch will not only use seven batteries before it hasto be replaced, the casing also has to be openedseveral times allowing dust to enter its delicatemechanism.

Kinetron, the Dutch manufacturer of precisionelectromechanical products, had the answer as longago as 1990 when it patented a microgenerator whichwould harness the kinetic energy produced duringnormal movement of the wrist to generate electricalenergy. Unfortunately, the system relying on a 14-pole magnet, induction coil, spring coupling,capacitor and integrated circuit was sophisticated

and expensive – so it was only available for usein watches at the luxury end of the market.

But EUREKA funding, boosted by venturecapital funding, allowed the company to carryout research into a low cost version whichwould be suitable for the mass market ofwatches in the €60 to €70 price range. Workingwith the largest supplier of watch movementsin Europe, ETA SA of Grenchen, Switzerland andother partners in Switzerland and Germany,they were able within four years to tackle theformidable technical problems in massproducing and assembling the micro-generator.

The first product to incorporate theAutoquartz system was launched on the marketby Swatch in 1999. Since then the device hasalso been used in watches produced by otherwell known brands such as Omega, Rado andLongines. Within five years the partners expectto be manufacturing around 20 million units ayear. But it is not only the watch industry thatit likely to benefit from this technology. Similardevices have applications in a wide range ofuseful products such as hearing aids and heartpacemakers. ■

The Super VisionAutomatic machine


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A project for success

How EUREKA can help youEUREKA is best known for supporting research projects, butthrough its network across Europe, it also offers a wealth of

advice and informal assistance to researchers and companies. Ifyou are planning a research project, the EUREKA national office

in your country (find it on the web at http://www.eureka.be/) isthere to discuss your research ideas and advise you on possible

ways to take them forward. And in contrast to commercialservices which may charge you for advice, the EUREKA nationaloffices are supported by public administrations, so not only are

they close to research policy-making in each country,but they also offer these services free of charge.

Supporting that first stepThanks to the network, the staff in your national office will beable to put you in contact with companies working in the samefield in your own country and in other countries. They can helpyou find out what work has been done in your field and adviseyou on possible funding opportunities. Across Europe, EUREKAorganises events regularly, covering many differenttechnological fields. Here you can meet potential partners anddiscuss opportunities for cooperation or business arrangements.Or you can simply catch up on the latest developments in your

field. EUREKA also attends events organised by otherorganisations, where you can meet a friendly

face, able to advise you on the spot. Find outwhat events are coming up, on EUREKA’s

website: http://www.eureka.be/

Opening new horizonsA EUREKA project need only meet aset of simple criteria. It is open to

any market-oriented developments andshould involve at least two partners

from at least two member countries,which are organisations independent of

each other. Participants must also be able todemonstrate that the skills and knowledge

brought by the partners are not readily availablewithin the one country.

Networking for innovationAs a European collaborative initiative, this requirement for partners from different countries to

work together is essential. But if you have good ideas but no partners EUREKA can help you find theright partners, rather than see your ideas lost through lack of support. As well as the brokerage andpartnering events organised throughout Europe, EUREKA also maintains a database of organisations

seeking partners for projects, in which you may be able to find an organisation in your field. Youcan access this database on the EUREKA website: http://www.eureka.be/ These tools are backed upby the wealth of informal contacts within the EUREKA network, through which your national office

can discuss your ideas with others and may discover potential partners.

It’s also possible that there may already be a EUREKA project working in the same area as your idea. In this case, rather than duplicating efforts, it is easy to join the ongoing project. All you

need is to agree with the existing partners how you can contribute to the work and join up.

Turning your ideas into realityOnce you’re ready to transform your ideasinto practical research or development,

you may be able to get EUREKA supportfor your project. If you’ve already

discussed the ideas with your nationaloffice, then they will be able to tell you

at what stage to apply and give you anindication of whether your project is likely

to attract funding. In many cases, EUREKAsupport includes funding, but since the funds

come from the member countries, all fundingdecisions are made by individual countries, on the

basis of their own rules.

EUREKA – Europe’s market-oriented R&D initiative

EUREKA can help anybody with ideas to develop new high technology products or systems,whether a small company, a large company or a research institute. Even individuals with good

ideas are welcomed by EUREKA, which can help them to get their research moving. EUREKA has anetwork covering 29 countries in Europe, and more working in partnership, making it truly

international. Designed to benefit European industry, EUREKA is a very flexible structure, whichmakes it so good at helping different types of organisations in many different situations.

B R I N G I N G E U R O P E A N I N N O V A T I O N T O A W O R L D M A R K E T


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EUREKA is a European networkfor market-oriented R&D. Itsaim is to strengthen Europeancompetitiveness by promotingmarket-driven collaborativeresearch and technologicaldevelopment. The EUREKAinitiative enables industry and

research institutes from 29member countries and theEuropean Union to collaboratein a bottom-up approach indeveloping and exploitinginnovative technologies.

EUREKA News is published fivetimes a year in English,French, German, Italian andSpanish. To receive free copiesby post, contact the EUREKASecretariat.

ISSN 1470-7489

EUREKA Secretariat Rue Neerveldstraat 107 B-1200 Brussels Tel. +32 2 777 09 50 Fax +32 2 770 74 [email protected]://www.eureka.be/

Publisher: Heikki KotilainenEditor: Nicola Vatthauer

Written and produced byLibrata Ltd, London

Design: Design4ScienceCover: Volker Sträter

E! News: Why is this legislation important?David Santillo: It reflects a huge change in attitudesby those responsible for environmental law. In the pastlegislation usually focused on pollution coming out ofchimneys or waste water pipes during manufacture.Now it is has been realised that products themselvescan have an equally important impact on theenvironment when they are being used and whendisposed of after use. It is estimated that our bodiescontain residues of between 300 and 500 industrialchemicals many of which did not exist 100 years ago.Less than 25% of those residues are the result ofpollution during manufacture, so a substantialproportion of the contaminant burden we carryundoubtedly results from exposure to chemicalsreleased from products during or after use. Legislationsuch as that proposed for electronic goods will beginto address the link between chemical manufacture, usein products and public exposure.

E! News: What are the main pollution problemsassociated with the electronics industry?DS: As with other industrial sectors, the sources andfates of pollutants are diverse and complex. Particularconcern has been raised over the halogenated flameretardants, especially the polybrominated biphenyls(PBBs) and polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs).These are added to plastic casings to prevent fires intelevisions, computers etc. when they overheat orshort circuit. Heavy metals are also used extensively bycompanies in the industry. Lead is used in solder,cadmium is a component of batteries and mercury isused in lighting equipment. All of these share thecharacteristics of the most important industrialpollutants – they are highly toxic, they degrade slowly(if at all) in the environment and they tend toaccumulate in the tissues of living organisms.

E! News: Are these pollutants also released by otherindustries?DS: Yes, this is certainly not a problem that isexclusive to the electronics industry – they are all usedwidely by companies in other sectors, such ascosmetics or furnishings. International organisationsand governments, particularly in the Nordic countries,are putting pressure on companies to cut down theamounts of these extremely harmful substances gettinginto the environment or to replace them with non-hazardous alternatives.

E! News: How do these pollutants get into theenvironment – and where do they go?DS: Compounds like PBBs and PBDEs are notcompletely bound up in the materials to which theyare added. Small, but significant, amounts willbecome vaporised as the equipment heats up or as thematerials degrade over time. These residues may bebreathed in directly or become attached to dust whichgets onto our food. As these compounds are notreadily destroyed in the environment they can becomedistributed very widely through the environment andbuild up in the food chain. Researchers at the DutchOceanographic Institute recently reported findingresidues of brominated flame retardants in the fat ofsperm whales. It is an indication of how far thecontamination can spread if it reaches animals thatfeed almost exclusively in the ocean depths.

E! News: Whose responsibility is it to developalternatives?DS: In many cases there are existing alternativesalthough these are often more expensive at present.Another possibility is to redesign equipment toprevent the risk of fires occurring. All companieswhich are using toxic materials should be looking notsimply to reduce the amounts they need but to findalternatives. One of the problems in the past has beena responsibility gap between the chemical companiesthat actually make these materials and the industriesthat use them in their products. There will beincreasing pressure to bridge that gap, not only as aresult of stricter regulations but also because thegeneral public is increasingly concerned about theeffects of these compounds.

E! News: So this legislation will provideopportunities as well as challenges for industry?DS: Yes, there are undoubtedly companies with theexpertise and resources to come up with acceptablesolutions – although these may not necessarily be themarket leaders in the electronics industry at themoment. European governments have taken theinitiative in attempting to reduce the environmentalproblems caused by these compounds. Europeancompanies can also take the lead in developing newproducts which do not contain hazardous materials.There is little doubt that there will be increasingconsumer demand for goods designed to have minimaladverse impacts on our environment.

Greenpeace onelectronic waste

The European Unionproposes to makecompanies in thesector takeresponsibility forreducing theenvironmentalimpact of waste fromelectrical andelectronic equipmentproducts. Companiesmust control or avoidthe use of certainhazardous materialsin their products andtake back and recyclethe product when itsworking life is over.EUREKA News talkedto Dr David Santilloof the GreenpeaceResearchLaboratories at theUniversity of Exeter,UK, on theimplications of thislegislation.

David Santillo

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© Copyright 2000 EUREKA Secretariat, Rue Neerveldstraat 107, B-1200 Brussels, Belgium. Permission to reproduce individual articles from EUREKA News for non-commercial purposes is granted, provided that EUREKA News is acknowledged as the source.


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The environmental challenge for technology · communication, Heikki Kotilainen, Head of the EUREKA Secretariat, welcomes the Research Area ... Eureka 49 ENGLISH/FINAL 6/11/00 3:54